


Bloom

by syzygy_mellifluous



Series: Kristanna Week 2020 [1]
Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Past Anna/Hans (Disney)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:40:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27473656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syzygy_mellifluous/pseuds/syzygy_mellifluous
Summary: Though their initial meeting was the result of an unfortunate situation, Anna and Kristoff begin to grow something wonderful, together.
Relationships: Anna/Kristoff (Disney)
Series: Kristanna Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2007361
Comments: 8
Kudos: 30





	Bloom

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This is my contribution for Kristanna Week Day 1 - Red! I had a billion ideas for this color because of all of the emotion attached to it but I couldn’t execute any of them well enough. As is typical for me, I finished this very last minute (aka at 3am). Also, I know nothing about flowers lol. Cross-posted from my tumblr, thecassadilla.tumbr.com Enjoy!!!

The first time that they met had been a pure coincidence. Kristoff had picked up a late shift at his parents’ flower shop on Valentine’s Day, when he knew the only customers would be the desperate, last-minute “I need to bring some type of flower home or my significant other will kill me” people. He always took the shift as a courtesy to his adoptive parents, so they could enjoy a night off and go to dinner or a movie and celebrate the holiday.

He was neither here nor there about Valentine’s Day. He didn’t think it was a meaningless holiday like many of his single friends did, but he wasn’t necessarily fond of it, either - mainly because of the association to the flower shop and all of the craziness that ensued in the weeks leading up to it. He was expected the night to go exactly as they had in Valentines Day pasts; a few late night stragglers but otherwise quiet.

What was particularly unexpected that night was when the little bell on the door of the shop jingled and a young couple walked in near closing time. 

The man couldn’t even be bothered to pull the phone away from his ear before telling the woman, “Here’s my credit card, pick something fast so we could get the hell out of here.”

He watched in silence as the woman, on the verge of tears, slowly perused the shop while her boyfriend-slash-husband or whoever he was waited by the door and continued his phone conversation. 

“Can I help you?” Kristoff asked when she came close enough to the cash register. She was quite beautiful; bright blue eyes, a dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks, which happened to be rosy from the cold weather, and long, auburn hair that stood out against her plum-colored pea coat and grey knit hat. He also couldn’t help but notice the large, sparkly diamond ring on her left hand. Married.

She shakily sighed, the tears pooling in her eyes threatening to spill over at any second. “I know it’s late, but do you have any roses left?”

He nodded. “We do.”

“Those are traditional for Valentine’s Day, right?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he answered.

“Can I have a dozen roses, please?”

“Sure. How do you want them?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you want them with babies’ breath? Wrapped in paper or in a vase? Or -”

She shook her head. “You know what...never mind. Thank you for your help.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” she said, her voice cracking. “Valentine’s Day is almost over, anyway.”

He glanced up at the clock on the wall; it was quarter to eleven, which meant that there was just over an hour left of the holiday. His heart was breaking for her. 

“Anna!” her husband sternly called. “Let’s go!”

She turned toward the entrance of the shop. “Thank you again.”

“Wait,” he said, plucking a red rose from the pile behind the register and holding it out to her. “I feel really bad.”

“You shouldn’t be the one to feel bad.”

“Please take it.”

The tiniest inkling of a smile appeared on her quivering lips as she accepted the flower. “Thank you.”

He nodded sympathetically, and watched as she walked back over to her husband.

“Excellent, you didn’t spend much,” the man said smugly, snatching the credit card from her hands. He was still on the phone, which was now sandwiched between his shoulder and his ear. “Are you satisfied enough to go home now?”

She looked back in his direction one last time as her husband grabbed her by the hand and pulled her out of the shop, jostling the bell once again. Kristoff was so enraged that he was practically seeing red; he’d seen plenty people come in over the years and buy flowers last minute, but that had to be the _worst_ instance he’d ever seen. He couldn’t fathom how a grown man could treat his wife so...poorly. If that was what happened in public, he couldn’t imagine what happened in private. With his jaw clenched, he made it through the remainder of his shift, counted the cash register, and booked it out of there as quickly as he could, stewing in his own anger for the rest of the night and much of the following day.

* * *

The second time they met was intentional, though not on his behalf; nearly two weeks had passed, and Kristoff had managed to put the entire incident behind him - or so he thought. He’d finished his shift and was packing up to leave on a Saturday afternoon when one of his coworkers came to the break room and grabbed his attention.

“Kristoff, there’s a young woman looking for you.”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

“A young woman asked if she could speak to the tall, blond guy and you’re the only person that fits that description.”

He sighed, mentally preparing himself to get an earful from a woman whose husband bought flowers for his mistress or something equally as ridiculous. It happened quite frequently and he was always the one to take the heat as opposed to the person who’d actually _caused_ the problem. 

Instead, he was quite shocked when he walked out onto the sales floor and found the woman from Valentine’s Day, in the same plum-colored pea coat and grey hat. Her left hand was gripping onto the strap of her purse by her shoulder, and he couldn’t help but notice that her ring finger was sans ring.

“Hi, can I help you?”

“Hi,” she said in a small voice. “I’m not sure if you remember me, but I came in right before you closed on Valentine’s Day...with my ex-fiancé.”

“I remember,” he confirmed. His initial suspicions had been wrong; the man wasn’t her husband, after all. 

“I just had to come in and thank you again,” she explained. “It was such a kind gesture, and I really needed it that night. You really have no idea how much it meant to me.”

Not wanting to bring up the rottenness of the situation and rub it in like salt in a wound, he simply nodded. “No problem.”

“I can’t even imagine what that must’ve looked like to you...how bad it looked.”

He shrugged. “I’ve seen some crazy stuff.” 

“I can only imagine,” she stated. “If you’re free, I’d really love to buy you a coffee or something from the café next door to say thank you.”

He waved his hands dismissively, slightly flustered at the offer. “You don’t have to do that, it really wasn’t a big deal.”

“It was to me,” she said meekly. “I want to express my gratitude.”

He faltered for a moment; if it would make her feel better, then there was really no harm in agreeing to go along. “Okay.”

The tension in her face melted away. “Great.”

“Let me just grab my jacket.”

He grabbed his belongings, waved goodbye to his coworkers and then met her back on the sales floor. Without another word, they left the shop.

“I don’t believe I caught your name,” she mentioned once they had made it outside.

“Kristoff.”

“I’m Anna,” she said, smiling as he held open the door to the café for her. They managed to snag a table by the window, and once they sat down, she asked, “How do you take your coffee?”

“Black,” he answered. “And the smallest size they have, otherwise I’ll be awake all night.”

“Got it,” she nodded, walking over to the cashier. 

He rested his arms on the table, waiting for her to come back but slightly eager to leave and go about the rest of his day. She returned a few minutes later, setting the two cups on the table and sitting across from him.

“So, you must know quite a bit about flowers being that you work for a florist.”

“I do,” he confirmed. “My folks own the shop. I’m helping them out while I’m working on my degree. I’ll probably still help them out once I graduate, though.”

“That’s so nice,” she smiled. “Do you have a favorite flower?”

He shook his head. “I don’t. I associate different flowers with different occasions, so that may be why.”

“My absolute favorites are sunflowers. But I love roses, too. And gardenias, and lilies. I guess I like everything,” she laughed, jovial for a moment before her expression turned somber. “You know, I wouldn’t be sitting here if you hadn’t handed me that rose, so if it’s okay with you, I want to explain what you saw that night and the aftermath.”

“Go for it,” he encouraged. Admittedly, he was quite curious, even though he knew that it wasn’t really his business. 

“Obviously, it was Valentine’s Day. I wasn’t expecting flowers or chocolate or anything really, but my ex and I would always exchange gifts on holidays. We had just got engaged in December and I knew he spent a lot on the ring so I didn’t have any expectations for this year, but I still got him a gift,” she explained. 

He nodded along as she spoke, not wanting to interrupt.

“He got home late and spent the rest of the night on the phone, ignoring me - which isn’t unusual for him, but I was hoping that we’d spend some time together because it was a special day. I asked him if he wanted to go out to dinner, but he’d already eaten with someone...I’m assuming it was another woman. Anyway, he got off the phone long enough to tell me that if I really wanted chocolate, then I could wait until the day after when it would all be marked down, and that we could go to the flower shop near closing because the flowers would probably be really cheap - I don’t think that’s true, though.”

“It isn’t,” he verified. 

“By the time we got to your shop, I was pretty upset because of the way he had been treating me all day, but it only got worse once we were inside. I was barely able to keep it together, and it wasn’t until you - a complete stranger - showed me the tiniest bit of compassion that I realized how bad my situation was and how badly I needed to get out of it.”

She took a deep breath before continuing. “I broke up with him. By the time we got back to the car I was crying, and he got mad that I was disrupting his call and we had a huge fight. It ended with me throwing the ring in his face and moving out.”

He hesitated for a moment, not wanting to say the wrong thing. “I’m glad you were able to get out of that.”

“Me too,” she nodded. “I think I knew it had to end for a long time - even when I said ‘yes’ to getting engaged. But what really solidified it was when you handed me that flower - it reminded me that people who care about others still exist.”

“Anyone who works there would’ve done the same,” he chuckled, trying to divert the credit away from himself. 

“I’ve spoken to a few friends and I recommended your family’s flower shop to them. They should spend their money at a business that actually cares about its customers.”

“Thanks, that means a lot.”

She nodded, a smile gracing her lips. “It’s the least I could do.”

They talked a little while longer before bidding each other goodbye and going their separate ways. In all honesty, Kristoff was happy for her; she’d escaped a bad relationship and she seemed to be in a much better place despite the fact that little time had passed. Even though he imagined he’d never see her again, he could rest easy knowing that she wouldn’t be trapped in a loveless marriage.

It didn’t quite play out the way he imagined, though. Frequently, she’d pop into the shop and distract him, following him around as he added water to the vases or fixed the arrangements, only laying low when another customer would come in. He didn’t mind the distraction at all; it made time go faster and she was fun to talk to. 

It wasn’t until a hot, summer afternoon in June that he decided to do something about their relationship. Anna came into the shop clad in a red sundress, accessorized with a floppy, wide-brim hat and oversized sunglasses right before his shift was due to end. 

“Hi, Kristoff,” she smiled, pulling the sunglasses off of her nose and hooking them onto the front of her dress. “Did you get in any sunflowers yet?”

“We did,” he confirmed. “We got a batch that bloomed early this year.”

She clapped her hands together. “That’s so exciting! May I purchase a bouquet of them?”

“Sure,” he said, walking over to where they were being kept, fully aware that she was following him. While she often came in to visit, she seldom purchased any flowers. She usually just came in to keep him company and relentlessly flirt. “Any special occasion?”

“It’s my birthday,” she answered, a slight blush creeping across her cheeks. 

“Oh!” he exclaimed, slightly embarrassed that he didn’t know - to his recollection, they’d never discussed birthdays. “Happy birthday!”

“Thank you,” she beamed. “I figured I may as well treat myself to my favorite flowers on my birthday, you know?”

“Of course,” he agreed, though in his head he’d already decided that she wasn’t going to pay for the flowers. It was her birthday, after all - they should be gifted to her. “Do you have any special plans?”

“I’m probably going to go out with some friends over the weekend, but not today.”

“I’d love to take you out to dinner,” he said, before quickly adding, “If you’re up for it.”

She nodded, biting down on her lip. “That would be really nice.”

They walked back to the counter, and he arranged the flowers in white and tan tissue paper, securing them with a red bow that matched her dress. 

“How much do I owe you?” she asked, opening her purse and digging for her wallet.

“Don’t be silly. They’re on me.”

“You’re such a sweetheart, you don’t have to do that.”

“It’s your birthday,” he reminded her. “I want you to have them.”

He handed them to her and she cradled them in her arms. “Thank you, Kristoff.”

“I’m going to go clock out and then we can go?”

She nodded excitedly and when he returned, he took her by the arm and led her out of the shop, the bell jingling as the door opened and they stepped out into the sunshine.

What had started as something so rotten had bloomed into something beautiful. And for every occasion from that point forward, there were flowers to match; roses on Valentine’s Day, poinsettias at Christmastime, and of course, sunflowers for Anna’s birthday.


End file.
